Chapter 13: Buying Grain Seeds at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative

Leaving the Street Office, Iron Orchid went to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative.

The Supply and Marketing Cooperative had a dedicated counter for selling seeds, with a wide variety of seeds, everything you could imagine.

Worried that buying too many seeds would raise suspicion, Iron Orchid disguised herself as a middle-aged woman.

“Comrade at the counter, these… and these… please give me some of each…”

Iron Orchid had already thought about what she wanted to plant.

Rice and wheat for staple foods were essential, one for producing rice and the other for making noodles, both were indispensable.

Then there were filling foods, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and corn were also needed.

And then there were rapeseed, soybeans, peanuts, and sesame seeds, which could be eaten and also used for oil extraction.

The grains were almost complete, next were vegetable seeds.

Scallions, ginger, garlic, bean curd, radishes, Chinese cabbage, chili peppers, tomatoes, eggplants, cucumbers, spinach, and all sorts of other vegetables were bought.

Fruit seeds were also needed, apples, oranges, watermelons, grapes, lychees, and so on.

Buying so many seeds at once, the counter staff was getting impatient.

“Why are you buying so many seeds, don’t you want to secretly plant things to sell, that’s not allowed!”

Faced with her questioning, Iron Orchid was not flustered at all:

“It’s like this, I’m a teacher from an agricultural research base in another province, I want to buy some seeds from the Beijing Supply and Marketing Cooperative to do research.

I see that you are very good at your job, if the research is successful in the future, I will probably report it, and at that time I will tell everyone that I bought the seeds from you, what do you think?”

The female staff member at the counter was stunned.

Agricultural research base in another province?

This name sounded very impressive.

She didn’t expect that the seemingly unremarkable woman in front of her was actually so important.

What if what she said was true, wouldn’t she be able to appear in the newspaper then?

A gleam of joy flashed in the female staff member’s eyes, this was a glorious event!

“Oh my, what do you mean, you’re too polite, what else do you need, I’ll prepare it for you.”

The female staff member who was still putting on a face a second ago, now had a face full of obsequious smiles.

Iron Orchid twitched her lips, this change of face was as fast as a rocket.

Things went smoothly from then on.

Iron Orchid not only bought seeds, but also went to other counters to spend all the expired tickets from Zhang Cui’s family.

By the time she got home, it was almost noon.

The pot of chicken soup she had cooked in the space in the morning was already done, the whole bamboo house was filled with the aroma of chicken soup.

Iron Orchid couldn’t wait to scoop a bowl of chicken soup.

Holding the bowl, she took a deep sniff.

Fragrant! It was simply too fragrant!

One sip of chicken soup down.

Iron Orchid felt like she was soaking in a warm spring, so comfortable that she closed her eyes.

Then she took a bite of the chicken leg.

The taste lingered on her lips and teeth, tender and juicy, delicious!

Iron Orchid ate one bite after another, and in less than three minutes, she finished the whole old hen.

“Burp～～～”

She burped, patted her round belly, and lay down leisurely on the bamboo chair in the courtyard for a nap.

Blue sky and white clouds, green grass, and a gentle breeze.

This life was really good!

“Bang bang bang!”

“Iron Orchid, you dead girl, let us out!”

Unfortunately, someone interrupted this beautiful moment.

Iron Orchid frowned and went out of the space.

The small door of the storage room was being slammed against the wall.

Last night, Zhang Cui’s family thought that their mother-in-law would come to rescue them this morning, so they waited.

They didn’t hear anything all morning, and finally they got anxious.

“Iron Orchid, you’ve locked us up for two days, you haven’t given us anything to eat or drink, are you going to starve us to death!”

Hu Xiaolian was close to breaking down.

She had never been so miserable, her stomach was aching from hunger, and her whole body ached.

Zhang Cui and Hu Zhuzi were also not feeling well.

Especially Hu Zhuzi, although his head wasn’t bleeding, he felt a buzzing in his head, as if he had some kind of aftereffect.

He heard that the big fool in the village became stupid after being hit on the head.

If he didn’t go to the hospital to see a doctor, he might also become a fool.

Thinking about this possibility, Hu Zhuzi was very scared.

“Dead… Iron Orchid, we did wrong before, but you beat us so badly and locked us in the storage room for two days, it should be enough, right?”

“Yes, we know we were wrong, as long as you let us out, we’ll leave your house immediately!”

Zhang Cui’s confident voice came from inside.

If it weren’t for eavesdropping on their conversation last night, it would have been easy to be fooled by them.

Iron Orchid snorted coldly.

“You locked me up for three days, I must lock you up for three days!”

As for what awaited them after three days, it was another kind of torture.

Hearing this, Zhang Cui and the others immediately panicked.

“We’re starving to death, please have mercy on us and let us out!”

Starve to death? It would be best if they starved to death!

Iron Orchid’s eyes turned cold, she turned around and was about to leave.

Suddenly, she remembered something, she called out a cold steamed bun from the space, opened the crack in the door and threw it at Zhang Cui’s feet.

“This is your food for today, how you divide it is up to you.”

Didn’t Zhang Cui love her daughter Hu Xiaolian very much?

Now there was only one steamed bun, let’s see if she was willing to give it up.

And Hu Zhuzi, he was the most selfish, he would definitely grab the steamed bun.

As expected, Iron Orchid was right.

In just a few seconds, there was a sound of arguing from the storage room.

Hu Xiaolian: “Mom, anyway, we’ll be able to get out tomorrow, give me the steamed bun.”

Zhang Cui: “No, who knows if that dead girl is telling the truth, I’m old and can’t handle it, I need to eat.”

Hu Zhuzi: “Wife, my head hurts so much, give it to me.”

Hu Xiaolian’s eyes rolled: “Mom, why don’t we divide the steamed bun into three parts and eat it, that way no one has to fight.”

Hu Zhuzi refused: “How can that be, the steamed bun is so small, there won’t be much left after dividing it, I want to eat it all by myself!”

“You old fool, you wish! This steamed bun is mine, I won’t give it to anyone!”

Zhang Cui cursed, and immediately stuffed the steamed bun into her mouth.

She finally understood, even if her daughter loved her, she would still favor her own flesh and blood.

She couldn’t rely on anyone, she could only rely on herself!

Seeing Zhang Cui eating the steamed bun, Hu Zhuzi and Hu Xiaolian immediately panicked and rushed forward to stop her.

One slapped, the other tore, the steamed bun hadn’t been eaten yet, but their faces had been slapped twice.

Zhang Cui completely exploded.

She stuffed the whole steamed bun into her mouth and scratched Hu Zhuzi’s face.

“You dare to hit me, you dare to hit me, I’ll fight you!”

Hu Zhuzi couldn’t dodge in time, and his face was instantly scratched with several bloody marks.

He was furious: “You stinky woman, you scratched my face, if outsiders see it, they’ll laugh at me to death!”

Zhang Cui stiffened her neck: “So what if I scratched you! You think you still have a face, you don’t even have a decent job, who wouldn’t laugh at you!”

Seeing that her father was going to get angry, Hu Xiaolian quickly said: “Mom, say less.”

Zhang Cui: “Bah! You traitor, what good did your father give you, you’re still speaking for him!”

Hu Xiaolian’s eyes turned red: “Mom…”

Hu Zhuzi glared at Zhang Cui: “Why are you yelling at your daughter! Are you sick!”

This sentence completely stimulated Zhang Cui.

“You’re sick, your whole family is sick!”

Zhang Cui roared and pounced on Hu Zhuzi.

Hu Zhuzi, not to be outdone, responded with a fist.

Hu Xiaolian rushed forward to stop the fight, but was also dragged into it.

For a moment, the three of them were fighting.

The once warm family, was now gone…